The present invention relates to panel source drivers for driving a panel, and more particularly, to panel source drivers having a data register structure that uses demultiplexing and methods of controlling thereof.
To drive a panel, such as, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, a source driver and a gate driver are generally required. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional panel source driver. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional panel source driver includes a plurality of data registers 111-122, a plurality of first demultiplexers 131-136, a plurality of P-type decoders 141, 143, . . . , and 151, a plurality of N-type decoders 142, 144, . . . , and 152, a plurality of second demultiplexers 161-166, and a plurality of buffers 171-182.
In FIG. 1, a 6-channel unit is illustrated. In other words, six data inputs D1-D6 are repetitively input to six data registers. For example, the six data inputs D1-D6 are input to the six data registers 111-116, respectively, and to the other six data registers 117-122, respectively.
SEL denotes a selection signal for selecting either a first or a second operation mode. VH1-VH256 denote a plurality of high voltages having different levels, and VL1-VL256 denote a plurality of low voltages having different levels. VH1-VH256 and VL1-VL256 are generated by a voltage generator (not shown). Outputs CH1-CH12 of the buffers 171-182 are used to drive sources of a panel.
In the conventional source driver illustrated in FIG. 1, the first demultiplexers 131-136 are interposed between the data registers 111-122 and the P-type and N-type decoders 141-152, such that driver cell sizes (including data registers, first and second demultiplexers, decoders, and buffers) are increased. Thus, a chip area for forming the conventional structure may increase.